Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show Review

Feld Entertainment provided me with 4 tickets to attend Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show in Ottawa. We were unable to attend the show so I gave my tickets to another family who had entered the giveaway and requested tickets for the Ottawa show. They attended the show and had a great time. Below is their review of the show.

Before the show started, a performer was doing a “warm-up”, singing and dancing along to pre-recorded video clips showing on the screen at the back of the stage. While it got the kids in the mood seeing all of their favourite Disney characters, it seemed a bit too much like a half-hour commercial for the Playhouse Disney channel to us parents.

Once Sheldon (one of the live performers) came out on stage to do the introductions, all was forgotten, as his enthusiasm and creativity shone through in his performance. With most of the singing and performing voices being pre-recorded, his live singing and acting was perfectly timed, but also perfectly attuned to the energy and feedback from the audience.

Compared to other Disney road shows (such as Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice shows), I found the pace of this show far more interesting, engaging and less hokey. All the major Disney franchises were represented (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Cinderella, many of the characters from Toy Story, and Tigger), and the overall plot (finding friends for a talent show) worked well to introduce each of the characters in an engaging way.

All the performers and dancers were very polished and enthusiastic, and their energy translated well to the young kids in the audience. What I found technically interesting was the animatronics used in the masks for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Tigger. Eye expressions and mouth movements went a long way to creating a real performance for these beloved characters….. everything was perfectly synced to the music, which was very enjoyable!

The pacing and timing of scene changes was rapid enough to keep the interest of both our kids (Justin, almost 5, and Katie, almost 2), which is quite the feat in itself. A suitably placed intermission allowed everyone to last through the entire 1.75 hour performance.

Only two small complaints about the staging of the show: the narrow front curtain and deep stage caused some sightlines in the audience to be cut off, so that some of the action on stage was out of sight, even in premium seating sections; and some points in the show suffered from excessive use of the fog machine. Neither of these issues really affected the kid’s enjoyment of the show, though.

All in all, the four of us had a wonderful time at the show, and even us adults enjoyed the quality and sheer fun of the performance. Definitely recommended!

– Chris

There are still 4 more stops of the Ontario Tour (Oshawa, Toronto, Windsor and Hamilton). Visit my introduction post on Disney Live! Mickey’s Rocking’ Road Show for the tour dates and a code for $5 off your ticket purchase.